DREAM Workshop!

Below you will find the report I wrote for my regional manager on a recent teacher training workshop done at my school. I had been brainstorming and planning for months, so I was very excited to finally get it off the ground. As a side note, this particular workshop I created was apparently unprecedented, a rarity in a 50 year old organization, so the pressure was on! However, every time someone asked me about my idea during the brainstorming phase, I couldn’t help but become animated and passionate so I knew I had to be on the right track.

Also, I would like to add that I originally wanted to have the workshop the week before classes started so that the hopefully newfound motivations and techniques would be fresh in teachers’ minds the first day of school. Unfortunately, the Department of Education had the same idea and scheduled all of their mandatory seminars during the same time. This news didn’t come to me until that very week, so we had no choice but to schedule it after the school year started. We planned for it to be held the following Friday, but the day before my town announced there would be no power between the hours of 8 AM to 5 PM. Use of microphones was necessary, so that day was out again. Surprisingly, I was not aggravated or actually even surprised that these set backs happened. I effortlessly rolled with it and only hoped the next week would push through — this being something that would have completely stressed me out in America. A welcome change in attitude on my part, I only hope I can hold on to that perspective once I return!

So, Emily, what the heck is this workshop?! …Without further ado,  here is my report:

The DREAM Workshop held on June 17, 2011 at Zaragoza National High School had been a dream of mine since January.  The activity driven, goal and motivation based workshop came about when I observed the teachers at my school going through the motions, day in and day out, with little to no enthusiasm towards their job. When asked, most teachers would say that their students were too hard to manage or that their students didn’t care about learning, and I sensed a tone of defeat in their voices. To add to that, many of the teachers, I discovered, went into the profession because their parents told them to, or because it was the cheapest course in college.  This recipe certainly explained the observations I made but also proved not all hope was lost. What the teachers at my school needed was a change in perspective and an opportunity to work together towards the common goal of making Zaragoza National High School a better place for everyone.  From there, I envisioned an all day, team-building workshop, and with the help of other volunteers and Peace Corps staff, I came up with a plan to present to my school. With the approval from my principal, my dream was able to become a reality.

DREAM is an acronym that stands for Dedication, Responsibility, Education, Attitude and Motivation. I chose this name because it tied directly into my objectives of the workshop, which were “to explore intrinsic motivation techniques related to administration, teaching, and classroom management,” and “to develop goals for the upcoming school year through a series of hands on activities.” I only had one rule for how I wanted the workshop to run: No PowerPoint presentations! The materials I used were materials they often use in their own classrooms such as poster paper, markers, and tape because I wanted the teachers to be able to replicate the activities if they felt so inclined. I also did not lecture at all, only gave instructions for each activity to be led by the teachers grouped by department. I scattered the day with energizers and icebreakers that kept the teachers awake and excited, and encouraged participation with Motivation Station points per department that, of course, included a prize at the end. Some activities included reading inspirational teacher stories and creating a poster with the morals and related personal experiences, a scavenger hunt for teacher expectations around the school, a snowball fight that led to a discussion about rewards and consequences for teachers, and a department cheer to build team unity. Every discussion was lively and participation was higher than I expected. With over ten activities, the entire day was full, so full that I had to cut some other planned activities to hopefully be implemented at a follow up workshop in the future.

To me, this workshop was just the start of a bigger conversation that needs to continue at my school. However, getting started can be the hardest part, and so in that regard I feel successful. I had immediate feedback in the form of text messages from two teachers at my school, thanking me for inspiring them and hoping for more workshops in the future, which to me made all the challenges worth it! A week after the workshop, I plan on giving a survey to see if any teachers have implemented new strategies in their classrooms or if they feel differently towards teaching. From there, I hope to hold another workshop a few months down the road focusing more on developing their ideas and ways they can evaluate progress.  I know some other volunteers have shown interest in echoing this workshop and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have! Thank you to the Peace Corps staff and all the volunteers who have been more than supportive of me pursuing this dream!

For those interested, I will also post the session plans with pictures in my next post!